Focus on Agriculture, Part 3: Irrigation has changed agribusiness

Friday

May 24, 2013 at 10:00 AM

Irrigation in St. Joseph County has changed the way local farmers do business.

By Rosalie Currierrcurrier@sturgisjournal.com

Irrigation in St. Joseph County has changed the way local farmers do business.Sara Trattles, a loan officer for GreenStone Farm Credit Services, has seen a marked increase of farmers installing irrigation systems in the past few years.Irrigation companies are probably selling more pivots locally than ever before, Trattles said.Lyndon Kelley, irrigation educator with MSU Extension/Purdue Extension, said farmers are expanding irrigation to control drought-related yield reduction."By reducing drought risk, they have been able to draw more profitable speciality crop production to the area," Kelley said.In 2012, Michigan State University estimated 120,000 irrigated acres in the county. "The largest seed corn production facility for the world's two largest seed corn companies are in St. Joseph County, providing many jobs, business opportunities and increased tax revenue to the community," Kelley said.Larry Walton of Walton Farms in Nottawa has farmed for 30 years. Prior to the practice of irrigation, farm operations in St. Joseph County were different, he said."None of the seed corn companies would be here without irrigation," Walton said.Three decades ago, farming in St. Joseph County was more traditional, Walton said. Nearly everyone had livestock and therefore grew crops for feed. Yields also were much lower. A good corn crop was 100 to 120 bushels per acre, Walton said. Today, the yield is usually more than 200 bushels. The value of farm land also has dramatically increased, along with the cost of equipment farmers use for those crops, Walton said. Without irrigation, farmers couldn't fulfill contract terms for crops such as seed corn, potatoes, flowers, green beans, cucumbers, watermelon, carrots and pumpkins.If a farmer wants a renewed contract the next season, there is no margin for error, Walton said. Companies evaluate the farmer's performance in nearly every possible area.Irrigation, along with the well-drained, sandy loam soil in the county reduces the risk of delayed planting or field work, Kelley said.Ray Baker of Sturgis, manager of Black Gold Farms, agreed, saying both the type of soil and irrigation are the reasons his company has contracted for about 1,850 acres for potatoes in St. Joseph County this year.Potatoes are shallow root plants, Baker said. They require sandy soil and, ideally, 18 inches of water during a growing season. Since the average summer rainfall is 10 inches, growers must put down another 10 inches to meet the plant's demands.It's not just the big agribusiness operations that depend on irrigation. Nottawa Fruit Farm relies on it as well. Its system is more like an underground home sprinkler system, but larger, said Eleanor Iott. It spans 12 to 14 of the farm's 60 acres used for produce.For more than 25 years, Nottawa Fruit Farm has been expanding produce offerings and current crops include rhubarb, asparagus, strawberries, lettuce, green beans, tomatoes, blueberries, three varieties of raspberries, 20 varieties of squash, several varieties of pumpkins and decorative gourds.While irrigation is important for many of their crops, saving their strawberry crop from freezing is near the top of the list, Iott said. Irrigating the blossoms during a freeze creates an ice cover, and actually generates heat within the plant, saving the crop, Iott said.